Microsoft’s $99 subsidized Xbox gets a 250GB hard drive option

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Back in May Microsoft offered a cheaper way to get your hands on an Xbox 360 with Kinect. But it was only the initial cost that was reduced as you had to agree to pay a subscription charge for two years in return.

The deal saw you get a 4GB Xbox 360, Kinect motion controller, and Xbox Live Gold access for just $99 (usually $199). After that you pay $14.99 a month for a minimum of two years before the console is yours outright. In total, the console costs you $458.76. The same machine bought today on Amazon is $249.96, but that doesn’t include the Xbox Live Gold subscription charge.

Microsoft is now expanding the offer to include two more options. For the same $99 up front cost you can select a 250GB Xbox 360 without Kinect. Alternatively you can pay $149 and get the 250GB console and a Kinect. In both cases the $14.99 monthly subscription charge is still required for two years.

Kinect isn’t for everyone and a growing number of games require an install larger than 4GB. A perfect example of that is the forthcoming Halo 4, which requires 8GB of storage in order for multiplayer to work.

I suspect the $99 250GB Xbox is probably going to quickly become the most popular subsidized option, but it’s easy to forget that this ties you to a 360 until at least October 2014. By then Microsoft may have had its next generation console on store shelves for several months. If that does happen, I’m sure Microsoft will have some kind of early upgrade option available, but it won’t be cheap.